Is Cameron Norrie unable to beat players ranked higher than him?

Cameron Norrie is into his first ever major semi-final. This month was a special month for Norrie, given it was the first time in his career that he has been able to make it past the 3rd round of a grand slam.

However, there is a worrying trend and his record speaks for itself. He boasts a 4-19 record against players ranked inside the top 10. Prior to the last 12 months, his only top 10 wins came against John Isner in 2018, an out of form Dominic Thiem last season.

Make no mistake- his ability to beat player who are ranked below him is unrivalled. However, his record against the big 3 is quite frankly, abysmal. He is 6-0 against the big 3, and has never taken a set from Nadal or Djokovic. He won 1 set against Federer last year, but Federer was coming off a major injury. He still lost this match. On the occasions he has played top level players, he has been swatted away like a fly.

Take for example the Nitto ATP Finals last season, where he was defeated by world number 8 Casper Ruud, in his first appearance in Turin. The same occurred in San Diego last season, and Miami this year. He is 0-3 against Ruud.

Take also for instance his record against Felix Auger-Aliassime. 0 and 3.  He lost to Felix in Vienna, ATP Cup and Rotterdam.

His record against Carlos Alcaraz? 0-3, losing at Indian Wells this year, last year’s US Open, and this year’s Madrid Open.

In the entire last 2 years, you will be hard pressed to find a player ranked above him that he has beaten. However, this worrying trend goes back a while. When he was ranked 20th, he struggled to beat players ranked in the teens. When he was 30th, he struggled to beat players ranked in the top 20.

It is a worrying trend which hopefully ends tomorrow night against Novak. If not, hopefully very soon, because his performance against the top 10 is worse than his good ranking suggests.